Sarahtish: Just me: Camping with Cub Scouts...

Gavin, Ethan and I went camping with the Cub Scouts last night. I used to really love going camping but then I grew up and became the one that had to do all the planning, packing and set-up and my love started to vanish. The idea of lying in a tent with the damp dew making everything wet is not my idea of fun; but I powered through and went for my boys.

This was Gavin's first time camping as a Cub Scout. Thankfully Ethan loves to camp and enjoys being an experienced Boy Scout and wanted to go to help out.

We left in a caravan out to the location to camp in Niscemi, Italy. It's an annex base for the Navy that we got permission to have a family camp at. It was actually very pretty there.

It's very much like a desert with tumble weeds, sand and rascally rabbits.

We left out from our neighborhood and drove an hour and half to the town of Niscemi. I almost lost the caravan, but I was lucky enough to be following some really good folks that put on their flashers and I was able to see where they went. Italian drivers are very aggressive. There is no waiting your turn, they just come on out in front of you; not matter what.

We arrived to the camping area after dark of course and proceeded to quickly put up our tent. It didn't take us long at all to get it all put together. Ethan then helped others. Gavin was so happy and excited about being at camp.

The Pack provided dinner which was dump chili. Each family brings a can of something to dump into a chili base. I brought cans of black beans and pinto beans to add. The chili was good even though it had potatoes and beets in it!

There was a little star gazing done and the boys learned about constellations.

We had a large campfire and we had some skits, some songs and a really cool Bobcat ceremony. I didn't get any pictures of him actually receiving his badge, because we were all three involved in the ceremony; but it was nice. I'm so proud of him and his fellow Tiger Cubs.

We roasted marshmallows and in true Italian style used nutella for our s'mores. Yummy! We crawled into our tent and tried to sleep. It was cold. We made it through the night and woke up around 6AM when we heard gun shots; rabbit hunters!

This morning we had a lovely breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs and fruit. It was a collaborative endeavor by our den and it came out great. Afterwards there was a long hike where the boys learned how to use a compass. Gavin says it was his favorite part of the whole camp out!

A very happy Camper!

We left camp around 11 and got home around 12:30PM. It was a good day and camp out even though there was not a bathroom!!! I ended up with a headache, but a nap, a hot bath and some Advil took care of that.

Ethan snapped a couple of pictures for us on the way home of the scenery.